Motor for fluid-meters.



R. C. BRADLEY. MOTOR- FOR FLUID METERS'. ,APPucAnou'mEn' act. n. 1915.

V mmw o mama m. 5,1918.

1 Y tip/w WiT/IIESSLS r ens r @FFT'@E.

RICH C. BJDLEY, OF HOUSTON, TEXAS, ASSIGNOJR. 0F ONE-HALF TQ G. FFA-NK ELAINE), OF HUUSTUN, TEXAS.

MOTOR FOR FLUID-METERS.

Specification of? Letters Patent.

. Patented Feb. 5,, 112183..

Application filed Dctober 1?, 1916. serial Ito. manic.

To all whom a may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD C. BRADLEY, a citizen of'the United States, and a resident of Houston, in the county of Harris and State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Motors for Fluid- Meters, of which the following is a speclfication.

My invention relates to improvements in motors for fluid meters and it consists in the combinations, constructions and arrangements herein described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide a meter which is of great accuracy owing to the arrangement of parts and the manner of construction.

. dtfurther object of my invention is to provide a meter of the type in which a reciproeating vane has its edges in close contact at all times with the walls of the meter, and in which the pressure of the fluid upon the vane operates the meter.

further object of my invention is to rovide a device of the type described in w ich the means for permitting the reciprocation of the vane and the revolution thereof is of novel construction which renders it cheap to build and at the same time providing a construction which eliminates friction of the movable parts to a large extent.

y invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawingsforming part of this application, in which Figure 1 is a section along the line 11 of Fig. 2, F Fig. 2 is a section along the line 2 2 of Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a portion of V the casing along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view showing the manner in which the inner wall of the meter casing is constructed, and

ig. 5 is a perspective view showing the 7 parts of the drum.

In carrying out my invention I provide a lower portion consisting of a bottom 1 and sides 2, these sides being cylindrical and being provided with external lugs 3 arranged to register-with lugs 4 of the upper casing portion 5, bolts 6 being used to secure the two portions firmly together. The upper casing section 5 is provided with a cover which is secured to of bolts 8.

A dome 9 is provided which is secured to the cover by bolts 10. As will be seen from Fi 3, the lower casing portion 2 is provided with a central partition 11. A curved screen 12 extends from this central partition to a point near the inlet 13. The upper casing member 5 is provided with a bottom 14 which is provided with a circular recess 15 and with a second recess 16, as shown in Fig. 2. A artition 17 is rovided and on the former by means each side ot'this partition is a passage, the passage 18 being forthe inflow of fluid and the passage 19 being for the outflow.

Disposed in the circular recess 15 is a drum which ll denote in general by D. The drum is made in sections as shown in Fig. 5. In this fi re it will be observed that there is a semi-cylindrical member 20 which has a recessed portion 20 and a similar member 21 having a recessed portion 21. A bottom portion 22 has a slot 22 while a top 23 has a slot 23*. These parts are put together and are bolted or otherwise secured in place so as to leave a slot for the reci rocating vane 24:. The bearings of this vane are near the surface of the cylinders at 24 (see Fig. 1), that portion of the drum 10 between these bearing surfaces being recessed to clear the vane.

The casing is. cylindrical as far asits external walls are concerned. The interior Walls of the portion 5 are heart-shaped in section, as plainly shown in Figs. 1 and d. In order to construct this heart-shaped section, I assume a center as for instance, the

center C in Fig. 4 through which a horizontil) registered by the turnin drawn through the division marks on the horizontal line L, and intersecting lines M are drawn. The curve is found by joining the points of intersection of the lines M and In order to avoid having a sharp angle at the points O-P, a curve is substituted which will permit the end of the vane to pass over it readily.

Referring now to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the vane is provided with rounded ends 24. these ends being in engagement with the internal wall 5 of the'oasing 5. The construction is such that with the cylinder or drum D mounted to rotate about the point T and the vane 24 arranged to slide radially with respect to the point T, the ends of the vane will always be in contact with the walls of the meter no matter what position the vane may be in.

The drum D is in contact with the end of the partition 17 on one side and is rotatably mounted in the partition 14 and the cover 7, as shown. It is provided with a bottom In 25 which extends into the recess 16 an which is engaged by a bearing screw 26. The opposite end of the drum is provided with a hub portion 23 to which is secured a gear 27. This gear 27 is connected with a reducing train which in the present instance consists of the gears 28, 29 and 30, the latter being secured to a stem 31 which is centered within a bore in the gear 27. The stem 31 passes through a stufling box 32'and may be connected to any suitable registering mechanism, the particular construction of which forms no part of the present invention.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, the operation thereof will be rea ily understood.

The fluid passes in at the inlet 13 and then through the screen 12, see Fig. 3, upwardly through the passage 18 and into the chamber 33 in the upper part of the meter. The pressure of the fluid on the vane 24 rotates the drum D and the rotation of the drum will cause the reciprocation of the vane 24, this reciprocation bein accomplished with very little'friction owing to the construction of the drum. The ends oi the vane being in constant contact with the walls of the meter and the surface of the drum 1) bein in close contact with the partition 17, the uid in order to reach theoutlet 19 must push the vane completely around. The fluid will escape through the passage 19 and thence through the outlet 34 see Fig. 1. The number of turns of the rum may of the stem 31 and hence the quantity of uid delivered.

It will be observed that no matter what position the vane 24 is in its line of contact with the wall of the meter is the same because of the fact that the surface is rounded.

For this reason, no shoe is necessary at the ends of the vane. Where such a shoe is used, it is almost impossible to prevent escape of the fluid around the ends since the pivoting of the shoe will permit the escape of fluid especially where suchfluid is in a very tenuous condition, as for instance in measuring gas.

In the manufacture of the device the-making ofthe drum in separate parts insures the accuracy of the instrument. It may be stated that the parts are bolted together and then the drum is turned in a lathe to insure absolute accuracy.

By constructing the inner wallsof the meter inthe manner described, I provide walls having a contour which is mathematically exact so that there is no binding of the vane as would be the case where such exactness is not followed out.

I claim 1. In a meter, a casing, a cylindrical drum rotatably disposed within the casing, said drum consisting of a pair of semi-cylindrical members each having a recess, the recesses of each part being in registration, and ends each provided with a recess arranged to register with said first named recesses to form a diametrical slot through the drum, a vane arranged to reciprocate through the slot, the ends of said vane being rounded, said drum being in engagement with the wall of the meter on one s1de of the drum, and the cross section of the engagin wall of the meter being substantially eartshaped.

2'. In a meter, a casing having an interior wall substantially heart-shaped in cross section, a drum rotatably mounted within the casing, said drum comprising a pair of semi cylindrical members secured together and being provided with registering recesses on their engaging faces, a bottom portion secured to said semi-cylindrical members and having a groove arranged to register with said recesses, a top portion secured to said semi-cylindrical members and having a groove arranged to register with said recesses, said bottom and said top being. provided with sealing means on their outer surfaces, the ends of said drum being disposed in contact with stationary parts of the easing, and a reciprocating vane extendmg through the slot in the drum formedby the registering recesses, said vane being 1 n constant engagement at both its ends with the wall of the casing.

3. In a meter, a cylindrical casing, a partition extending inwardly from one wall of the meter toward the center, said casing having an interior wall heart-shaped m cross section, a portion of the wall hav ng branches curved inwardly and terminat ng at the end of the partition thereby providing emme an .inlet chamber on one side of the partislot extending from one side of the drum to tion and an exhaust chamber on the other the other and areciprocating vane extending side of the partition, an inlet port and an through the slot and the drum, said vane 1' exhaust port, a cylindrical drum rotatably having rounded ends and being in constant 5 mounted within the casing, said drum being engagement with the inner wall of the casin constant engagement with the end of said ing. partition and having a centrally disposed RICHARD G. BRLEY. 

